Lieutenant Colonel Robert (Bob) Cheveres, age 79, born of Puerto Rican parents who came to America in the 1930’s, has made his last flight to his home in heaven.

At the age of 5 while playing in a bean field with his brother, Richard, he was thrilled as a jet swooped down over them and he said to his brother “I am going to do that one day!”

He was born and raised in the Colonia neighborhood of Oxnard. He is the only known Air Force fighter pilot to come from the Colonia. Starting out from very humble beginnings, Lt.Col.Cheveres became a man of great accomplishments earned with the traits that made him successful: focus, tenacity, and hard diligent work.After graduating from Oxnard High School in 1956, he joined the Air Force and received his pilot wings at 22 years of age. Not only did he become a jet pilot but he went on to become the captain of both jet bombers and fighters in the Air Force, something almost unheard of in the military. By the end of his Air Force career he was a highly decorated fighter pilot and ended his military career as an Air Force base commander. He flew more than 150 air combat missions over Vietnam during his two tours of duty in the late 60’s. He was decorated with two Distinguished Flying Crosses and a bronze star for heroism in combat. Using his bi-lingual skills, he taught Aerospace Studies at University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez.

His second personal goal in life was to become an Aerospace engineer and by age 30 he had surpassed that by becoming both an Aeronautical Engineer and Aerospace Engineer by attending the University of Arizona while still flying for the Air Force. He then went to work in two different engineering companies retiring as Director of Engineering in both.

In his retirement years, he spent much of his time giving speeches to middle and high school students passing on the knowledge that he had gained, telling them “yes, it can be done and you can do it!” While volunteering at the Commemorative Air Museum in Camarillo, he mentored students from CSUCI and felt that by volunteering he was giving back to the community which he had spent so many years protecting while flying for the Air Force. Bob also became an outstanding writer with which he gifted each of his grandchildren with a written personalized message of encouragement each Christmas. His love of gardening was evident in the healthy tomatoes and peppers he grew and shared with others.

He is survived by his wife, Jan Thornton-Cheveres; son Howard Baker; Daughters Teresa Trichel and Monique Matt and stepdaughter, Jodie DeSantis. He has 4 sisters: Rosemarie Holland, Doris Caplan, Carmen Cheveres, Margie Perlingos, and brother George Cheveres. He has 6 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren. His brother, Richard, preceded him in death.

Visitation will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 12 at Griffin Family Funeral Chapels, 1075 E. Daily Dr., Camarillo with a service following at 11:00 am. A reception will be held at 1:00 p.m. at the Commemorative Air Museum, Camarillo. In lieu of flowers, Bob requests that donations in his name would be sent to Doctors Without Borders, 333 7th Ave, New York 10001.